Spy Shots: 2009/10 Acura NSX

[Khajjathefang]

The engine could still be in the front, even with that exhaust, if Honda was trying to fool us. Seems like more trouble than it's worth though.
How do you fit a V-10 sideways? Right now I think a transverse V-8 makes more sense for marketing.

lamborghini did it with a v12 in 1965, I'm sure honda can manage :wink:

clearly the nose is NOT longer, not much anyway and what change there is was done before the fron wheels where the engine doesnt go. now the tail however ... :biggrin: all I can say is, I hope its a V10, that its mid mounted, and that it can be stuffed into 1st gens

 

[flaminio]

 

[Malibu Rapper]

l
clearly the nose is NOT longer, not much anyway and what change there is was done before the fron wheels where the engine doesnt go. now the tail however ... :biggrin: all I can say is, I hope its a V10, that its mid mounted, and that it can be stuffed into 1st gens

Actually the nose does look longer by several inches. Take a look again. See where the headlight and the wheels are at their closest point? Just by the pictures alone it looks a good several inches longer.

 

[Khajjathefang]

Actually the nose does look longer by several inches. Take a look again. See where the headlight and the wheels are at their closest point? Just by the pictures alone it looks a good several inches longer.

yup, I saw it on my third look and edited my post. but still, the front wheelbase is in the stock location while the rear is shoved back over a foot. as for the engine vents question, intake air could be coming from below, the trunk, or piped in from the nose. and im sure the radiator is up front regardless of layout

 

[NSXrebel]

Actually the nose does look longer by several inches. Take a look again. See where the headlight and the wheels are at their closest point? Just by the pictures alone it looks a good several inches longer.

The point is that the front was changed very little, the important thing is where it was stretched.

 

[docjohn]

hmmm,notice on some of the pics there is tape running from under the drivers' door probably wrapping diagnostic cables,,and they look to be running twords the rear! more subtle clues that the motor is indeed in the back!Yippee.Scrutinizing these spy shots is fun and intriguing!

 

[akira3d]

My first instinct when I saw these shots is that Honda has gone back to a mid-engine design. I have absolutely nothing I can use to support this assumption and it is probably more to do with hope than anything I can specifically point out in the photo.

Either way, I'm amused by the S2K skin...it has clearly been stretched in both directions. Wonder what it sounds like.

 

[beqa16v]

I hope honda will move forward after several years of freezing. its so exciting to watch these photos and analyze. btw, honda upgraded civic type r as well. these cars remaind basicly the same in power but now they upgraded it to 260hp and called it RR. hope common sence is coming back to honda guys again

 

[nsxotic911]

No matter how much I look at these pics, I can not see how this can be mid-engine.... ever...

*No mid-engine intake vents, while the front appears to be well accentuated (yes.. because the radiator is there...)
*Hood seems elongated from that of the S2000 - makes sense for a bigger engine in the front -
*The trunk seems way too big to support a mid engine car (and the very lager front compartment would be used for...?)
*The rear window doesn't seem like it would ive access to a V10...

....

 

[Malibu Rapper]

No matter how much I look at these pics, I can not see how this can be mid-engine.... ever...

Ditto. Someone please put scaled images of this car in comparison to the ASC. It looks like like an ASC to me.

 

[White98LS]

No matter how much I look at these pics, I can not see how this can be mid-engine.... ever...

*No mid-engine intake vents, while the front appears to be well accentuated (yes.. because the radiator is there...)
*Hood seems elongated from that of the S2000 - makes sense for a bigger engine in the front -
*The trunk seems way too big to support a mid engine car (and the very lager front compartment would be used for...?)
*The rear window doesn't seem like it would ive access to a V10...

....

I was hopeful it's mid-engined, but after seeing more pictures I'm afraid you are right, although the rear window thing I don't think matters so much because it's just a body to cover up mechanicals, not the way the final production body will look like or operate.

The two things that kill my dream the most are the bulging hood and the lack of air intakes in the rear. The S2000's hood area is already big, so further bulging and possibly (hard to tell from pics) lengthening only point to an engine being in there, and I don't think such a big V10 could do that kind of testing without some sort of visible air intake not in the front of the car. The tires also appear to be the same size or close to it front and rear, which isn't what you'd expect from a mid-engined car even if it's AWD.

Still exciting to see a running mule finally, but sorely disappointed that my initial hope of it being mid-engined appears to not be true. With that said, I can't wait to see the first videos of it pop up so we can hear a production Honda V10. The spies need to try to get up close to the car so they can hear where the hell the engine is for sure.

 

[Juice]

What keeps killing it for me is where the driver is sitting. Way the F back there in third row. And is that a bulge in the hood??? Not a cab foward design at all. I hope I'm wrong, but I would put my money on front engine lay out. I really, really hope that I am wrong.

 

[Tai]

Perhaps I've overlooked something, but exactly how is it that whoever wrote these articles knew that this was the mule for the next NSX? Did someone tell them, or did the mule say NSX on it somewhere? Or perhaps it made an unmistakable V10 exhaust note?

It also happens to be that the S2000 is going to be discontinued for 2008 so assuming this is the next NSX based upon official statements about the 3rd NSX Concept's debut this fall seems somewhat thin to me. After all Honda wants to make money from it's cars, and sports cars like the 350Z do sell; so a redesign for the S2000 seems more likely to me as Honda's priority.

Not to say that the next NSX won't be a totally disappointing steel FR SH-AWD sports car, but the next S2000 I think will likely emulate other successful sportscars like the 350Z. That said, the mule shown running around the test track could easily be the next S2000 with a front mounted V6 or whatever, unless of course I overlooked something confirming that this is indeed the next NSX.

Also, how is it that vertical exhaust pipes indicate a mid mounted engine??? I see the transversally mounted muffler which MAY tell us that there may be something in there, but if it is an engine it certainly is not sitting longitudinally. Mule's are made to confuse us, but it seems likely that there's no V10 sitting in the back of that thing.

Oh well, if the next NSX is an FR or SH-AWD or whatever, the positive note is that I will save $150,000 and buy a house instead:wink:

 

[White98LS]

It also happens to be that the S2000 is going to be discontinued for 2008 so assuming this is the next NSX based upon official statements about the 3rd NSX Concept's debut this fall seems somewhat thin to me. After all Honda wants to make money from it's cars, and sports cars like the 350Z do sell; so a redesign for the S2000 seems more likely to me as Honda's priority.

FWIW, the S2000 replacement is rumored to be a smaller, less-powerful, possibly FWD car, which it looks like this is not in any of those ways. Of course, those rumors could be (and hopefully ARE) wrong, but I do think this is an NSX mule and not an S2000 replacement.

 

[gtr]

Mid engine S2000 or Mid engine NSX sounds all good. I may just save up.

 

[Type-SR]

Here is a bigger picture of the rear...

maybe the air is feed from the ground ? So that they don't give it away to being mid-mounted ???

 

[Silver F16]

Pay ZERO attention to the body. The body is a facade to fool the eyes.

Look at 3 things, the position of the front wheels and rear wheels with respect to the driver's seating position.

In the S2000, the driver sits almost over the rear wheels, in this car, there is a huge gap between driver and rear wheels. Either it is a FR with 2+2 seating or a mid-engine layout.

Someone superimpose the NSX wheels over these wheels and show us where the driver winds up.

The exhaust is a dead give away it is mid-engine. I've yet to see that exhaust configuration for a FR setup. Highly doubt Honda would construct a decoy exhaust just to fool us. It would be easier to just cover up the exhaust with plastic cowling.

It's mid-engine folks. Someone must have gave Fukui a good scolding.

 

[Animate]

Or perhaps this is a front engined four seater. Now isn't that a dull prospect.

Edit: F16...I guess we were posting at the same time.

 

[Synthesis]

i think you guys forgot what an s2000 looks like..... it's a tiny car, of course it's stretched everywhere.... too bad it doesn't look all that stretched width-wise.... i like my cars low and wide (of course the nsx isn't really wide either....)

 

[Tai]

Pay ZERO attention to the body. The body is a facade to fool the eyes.

Look at 3 things, the position of the front wheels and rear wheels with respect to the driver's seating position.

In the S2000, the driver sits almost over the rear wheels, in this car, there is a huge gap between driver and rear wheels. Either it is a FR with 2+2 seating or a mid-engine layout.

Someone superimpose the NSX wheels over these wheels and show us where the driver winds up.

The exhaust is a dead give away it is mid-engine. I've yet to see that exhaust configuration for a FR setup. Highly doubt Honda would construct a decoy exhaust just to fool us. It would be easier to just cover up the exhaust with plastic cowling.

It's mid-engine folks. Someone must have gave Fukui a good scolding.

Are you saying that it's mid-engined based upon the transversal muffler arrangement? I actually have seen such arrangements on FR cars although it is not all that common.

Based upon the distance between the driver and rear axle, there is room for a transversally mounted V6 like in our cars. That also negates the possibility for a V8 or V10. A transversal arrangement is also inherently inferior to longitudinal layouts in terms of cooling and aerodynamics, and is only slightly better for shorter wheelbases, especially with such compact engine like a V6. I think if Honda's learned ANYTHING from it's current Super GT NSX's is that a longitudinal layout is superior, and if the next NSX is mid engined, it BETTER be a longitudinal V10, and not a transversal V6.

Someone better keep scolding Fukui.

 

[Tai]

FWIW, the S2000 replacement is rumored to be a smaller, less-powerful, possibly FWD car, which it looks like this is not in any of those ways. Of course, those rumors could be (and hopefully ARE) wrong, but I do think this is an NSX mule and not an S2000 replacement.

Where did you hear that the next S2000 was going to be less powerful and FF?

Thus far I have not heard anything other than that Honda considers the S2000 somewhat unsuccessful because it was too pure of a sports car and lacked an automatic option, practicality (was too small), and everyday driveability. Based on this they said that the next S2000 would be softer and easier to drive with an automatic option, and more practical. (Practical sounds a lot like bigger to me, and that mule is bigger but not that big either)

If Honda's paying attention to the sports car that IS selling (the 350Z), they should realize that power and driveability aren't nessecarily two separate things. Just look at the Cayman S. The S2000 had the edge trackwise for quite a while, and since it has been surpassed. But now people are actually buying real FR Sports Cars, and there is not a market for a half assed watered down FF pseudo sports car unless they want to call it the CRX (not that I don't like the CRX).

Either way I'm not sure what's going on over at Honda as they have shocked the world with dissapointments like the ASCC, so the fact that the S2000 may also be going down the tubes may be true.

 

[myopicpaideia]

If you will notice, the mule has the exact proper proportions for a mid-engined layout. The seating position, wheel base, and proportioning are all spot on with the current generation.

I would absolutely love it if it were mid-engined...in my wildest dreams they have gone back to the HSC and are now testing the engine meant for the ASCC in a mid-engined format. There is a lot more room in the mule for an egine than there is in the current NSX...

The question remains, how are they getting sufficient air to it, if it is indeed mid-engined? I guess the intake could be routed to underneath the car...

 

[Onsoku]

Oh well, if the next NSX is an FR or SH-AWD or whatever, the positive note is that I will save $150,000 and buy a house instead:wink:

Tai, You might want to wait on that house: http://www.californiahousingforecas...op-and-why-the-downturn-lasts-until-2013.html

http://www.californiahousingforecast.com/california-housing-forecast/

...and it doesn't just apply to those that live in SoCal...

BACK ON TOPIC:

Someone post some video of this S2000/NSX mule!

 

[AutoVation]

No way, I've seen that guy around with a couple other guys from his car club.

 

[Malibu Rapper]

If you will notice, the mule has the exact proper proportions for a mid-engined layout. The seating position, wheel base, and proportioning are all spot on with the current generation.

How about this?